Creature- FourStar1

After walking for what seemed like days, Axarr and her companions took a rest.

It had in fact only been about a thirty minute hike through the woods of this unusual backwater planet they'd crashed upon. Away from their ship, as it turned out, thirty minutes was quite a distance and led to a spectacular view.

Four-Star put his hand up over his forehead, and ground his jaw around.

"Looks like something's alive down there," he grunted. "But what?"

"It's got to be something big," said Ambrosia. "See the size of that ... um, nest thing?"

"Down there?" Axarr said, and squinted with her good eye. The patch over the other eye didn't help when it came to things like this. Naturally. Since she'd lost her eye decades before and to unhappy circumstances, her vision never quite recovered.

She jolted when Four-Star nudged her with his sharp elbow. "Dragons," he said. "They're dragons living here."

"And people, but not so many." Ambrosia gasped. Her furry muzzle was trembling, trying to distinguish scent from scent. She didn't have to do it for long. Moments later, a large red flying dragon came up from the forest, and strafed them.

The trio went diving for cover, then came back up when they reailzed that the dragon was simply flapping, hovering nearby. Axarr, being the aggressive and outgoing type, turned and spoke first.

"Take us to your leader!" She bellowed.

**I am the leader, here,** spoke the dragon, his mind a careful mess of flames and wisdom. **You will continue down this path, and then perhaps you will explain why that craft of yours has continued to rot where it lays.**

"Hey!" Axarr shouted, "that ship has been in my family for three generations!"

**It shows,** the ancient dragon grumbled with half an air of bemusement. **Perhaps I should contact that other space traveler. She will be able to help you. Her dragon Zulda comes for you now.**

Within moments, a green faced dragon poked her head from a nearby furrow in the ground. She was not a tremendously large dragon, but large enough that the trio of travelers could walk behind her in the tunnel she'd dug.

The tunnel was lined with small gleaming plants. Four-Star took one of them down, examining it carefully, and then popped it into his mouth.

"Tastes bright, like starcakes." He said, and his red hair dangled into his face. He had to actually remove his sunglasses while they walked, since it was really quite dark in the tunnel.

At long last, they got to the end of the tunnel, which led into a small but comfortable seeming cavern. There by the exit, sat a familiar four-armed green-brown haired hitch hiker.

"Woodie? Woodstock?" Yelled Four-Star. "Pal! Babe!"

"F-... Four-Star Daydream, does my eye decieve me?" Woodie stood and brushed the dirt from her hands.

(Axarr muttered, 'I think she lost her eye to keep up with my style, eywot?' but Ambrosia only shook her head and rolled her eyes. She had both hers.)

"Well, this is quite a surprise. They said something about a star falling a couple days ago. Yours?" She thumbed toward their ship, which had in fact fallen from the sky rather like a rock. The trio nodded.

Four-Star stood in awe, at the entrance of the cavern. Outside, there were plants of every description and small shrapes or young dragons wandering among them.

"Do you like the garden? Zulda made it for them. We get our food from her ability to breathe life into things..." Woodstock said, holding out her hand and plucking a bright fruit from a branch. She handed it to Four-Star. "You'll like it. It's sweet."

He bit into the fruit, enjoying the juice. The women then started chattering among themselves. Four-Star however found his attention going to the dragons. They were of three main colors, and seemed to have either sprouted wings, legs or a long body. Some rolled along on no legs, a couple danced into the air.

"Wow..." he breathed. "They're cool..."

"You could probably help one hatch," Woodie said, turning her attention to him. Though it looked like she was more interested in carrying on her conversation with the girls, she stood near the red-headed Space Admiral, and pointed to the ancient Kailan. The red dragon they had met before.

"Speak to him about it. He's really a sweet heart but he'll look over everything you do with a careful eye."

Four-Star walked respectfully with care around the topiary and plants, and then nodded to the large red dragon. "Woodstock said to speak to you about this. I don't really know what to ask."

**You would contribute to our wyrms growth?** Asked the Bishen. **Though you are odd, you also have a kind, caring spirit. Would you like to see how the eggs grow?**

With excitement, Four-Star followed the dragon as he went through the explanations that Woody was in fact giving her girlfriends back at the cavern. Each stage of growth, and then the wonderous breath weapon they would recieve upon adulthood, or becoming a Bishen.

"That's... really cool..." Four-Star said, nodding. "I'd like that, if I could... Really. Maybe we can teach the dragons here to reach the stars, right? Not to mention they could probably help fix the engines..."

Name: Tuzkigyo (8/28/01)
Caretaker: Four Star Daydream
Gender: ...BOY!
Type: Arboreal (9/5/01)
Stage: ... Bishen! (Shrape 9/5/01) ((Wyrm, 8/28/01))

"You got a boyeeeee!" Woodstock squealed, as she jumped up and down near FourStar. He looked at her with a bit of confusion.

"... And you can tell this?"

"Yeah, by looking at the egg! It's a green egg."

The redhead nodded, and huddled over the egg, carefully. "You just ignore her. She's a little high energy for me. You know? I'm sure you do."

FourStar wasn't certain, but he thought he heard a little peck at the inside of the egg, as if in response. Beaming with pride like a new father, he looked around at the girls, and let them giggle. He was known to talk to himself most of the time anyway. This way, at least, he'd have someone else to actually be there to speak at.

The little wyrm which crept from the egg not too much later was a brilliant deep crimson color. Four-Star was very pleased. The little creature did his level best not to roll onto his side or nose dive into the soft dirt near their hut. Woodstock still resided in the darkened cavern but Four-Star had chosen to live near the edge of it, outside, in a small hut he and Axarr had helped build.

It was light and sunny when the red Wyrm blinked his big black eyes up at Four-Star. He squealed loudly, demanding food, and the red-head obliged. Under the strict care of the Kailan, FourStar fed and cared for the newly hatched wyrm until he fell asleep again.

"He's ... so cute. And strong. I can even feel how strong he is already." Four-Star said. "Tuzkigyo," he said.

**What did you call him?** asked the Kailan. He pushed his huge head down over the starfaring man and his newly hatched wyrm.

"Tuzkigyo. Fire snake. Japanese, Hungarian. He's a little hot wyrm. He'll be stronger than you, some day, old boy!" Four-Star grinned up at the Kailan but got no great bellow of anger.

It might just be true. Tuzkigyo wriggled out of Four-Star's grasp and headed toward the high point on the hill near the huts and caverns. There, he aimed a look at the starship where Ambrosia and Woodstock were working, then looked directly at the sun.

"Don't do that," Four-Star muttered, as he gathered his new friend up into his arms again, "you'll blind yourself."

But when he looked at the little red guy, the sun almost shone right out of those dark eyes, like stars themselves.

"So this is a Shrape..." Muttered Axarr. She grunted, and turned to Woodstock, who was grinning from ear to ear.

"And he's so handsome!" She gleefully stated. Her four arms hugged at the red winged Shrape, who looked at his caretaker Four-Star with a bit of unease.

"It's okay, Tuzkigyo. She's that weird auntie I told you about when you were little. They've been away making... what, making plants grow?"

"Every barren season. There's lots of crops to make. Aren't there Zulda?" Woodstock waved at her green burrowing Bishel, who wiggled her way back under the ground. It looked as if Tuz was about to do the same. Instead, he took flight and lept into the air, flaping his young wings furiously. That dislodged Woodstock and she lauged while falling on her butt.

"He's not remarkably social, I'm afraid..." Four-Star claimed. "But he's kept up working with me on the ship. It's almost ready to test."

The Shrape had helped during the hot months of the summer, to bang out the dents in the hull of the ship, to tightly weld parts back together that had come undone (with his very strong tail, or gripping them with his jaws, he so wanted to heat them up, yet couldn't quite do that yet).

"I think soon Tuzkigyo will want to see how those engines work," Four-Star said, "they're still warm. Of course, that's the radiation. I think he can take it though. I mean, he's still a hot one!"

Woodstock stood watching, with Axarr on one side and Ambrosia on the other, as their red-headed companion assisted his red Shrape to the Shantel. Woodstock explained what the cerimony would be doing, but it largely went over the heads of the pair. They were entranced by the wonderful gathering of Tuzkigyo's egg-mates.

"Now it'll get interesting!" Woodstock gleefully bounced. They were not allowed very near, so they didn't hear much of what the elder Kailan approached and settled the group of young adult Bishel.

"See, he's asked the group to relax and calm down..." Woodstock narrated. "Now he'll give each Shrape their special object of power. Remember the one that my Zulda uses..."

First was a wonderful shell object, given to a water-specialist. The next one was a flier, and even though it soared through the air quite gracefully, when it got the special item it almost seemed to float!

Next was a Bishen awarded something that Zulda and Woodstock appreciated, which obviously gave a powerful natural magic. Then an item was given to a green flier. A firey sparkling gift went to the last female. Then, it was Tuz's turn!

"I wonder what it is?" Woodstock whispered. The object was dark, very dark indeed. By the time Four-Star and Tuzkigyo got themselves up to the ridge where the big starship rested, they were both seemingly pleased with themselves.

"So?" Woodstock demanded, "what is it? What did he get?"

"It's called an Obsidian Mass," Four-Star said, as Tuz lifted it above their heads, "it's very rare and very powerful." He smiled broadly, "just like my Tuzkigyo."

"What's it do?" Axarr asked, finally interested in the goings on."

"It's going to help Tuz here become a starship engineer!" Four-Star laughed. Tuz's eyes lit up and the ship behind them suddenly came to life!